


Camping

by VaultOfMelkurMistress



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Camping, F/M, Kind of a lockdown story, Sharing, Sharing a Sleeping Bag, The Doctor is stranded with her best enemy, There will be kissing and love, Thoschei, after much denial, light comedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-04
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:20:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23483743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VaultOfMelkurMistress/pseuds/VaultOfMelkurMistress
Summary: The Doctor rocks up to thwart the Master's plan....but he really just wanted some quiet time to himself. She gets stuck there for two days on a world with no tech, just the two of them, and only one tent and sleeping bag.Light comedy with our best enemies doing their best...to deny they are in love.
Relationships: Thirteenth Doctor/The Master (Dhawan)
Comments: 86
Kudos: 181





	1. Chapter 1

This plan, he had decided, was one of his best. That's why he had been smiling smugly right up until she marched up to him, hands on her hips and an adorably cross expression on her face. 

Then his smile became something else entirely - something involving a whole new plan - _the possibilities_ and the thought that she was now effectively trapped there with him. He decided to break that news later - once it was dark perhaps, and cold, and she was without a sleeping bag or a tent. 

“How long are you going to stand there looking like that Doctor?”

“Like what? If you mean disapproving and ready to stop whatever plan you have, then I am going to continue to stand here, _exactly_ like this.”

“Go right ahead love.”

“I will!” she replied, indignantly.

“Keep that up and I might just kiss that annoyance right off you.”

“You....In your dreams Master!”

“Yes Doctor, many times. _Great_ dreams. My favourite ones are dreams with you. Sometimes we kiss, sometimes your clothes are just not there at all,” he said, looking quite serious.

She stared at him, her mouth opening slightly but closing quickly as she decided not to take his bait. 

“You are hiking up a desolate rocky path on a planet that can only be entered once every two rotations. Alone.”

“Yes, I am,” he said, shifting past her as he continued walking, grasping the straps of his backpack and striding on.

“Not so fast Master!” she said, running after him and jumping in front of him, blocking his path again. “I will stop whatever it is you’re planning.”

“Oh I don’t doubt you will, you’ve done it within two minutes of arriving!”

“I have?” she paused, contemplating this and then broke into a smile. “Well that’s a record. What was your plan then?”

“My plan,” he said, slipping his backpack off of his shoulders and dropping it to the ground before sitting heavily on a fallen tree trunk. “Was to have uninterrrupted time, on a planet that no one can enter or exit for two days - perfect peace and quiet and...well... _me_ time.”

“ _That’s_ your plan? The whole reason you came here...to an unspoiled nature reserve planet…..for a weekend break?”

“YES!” Until you showed up! Are you happy now?”

“Well...can’t say I was expecting that,” the Doctor said, looking down at the Master’s large backpack, “That would explain the tent...and the rolled up sleeping bag. That’s a pretty large bag...lots of camping supplies?”

“Yes Doctor,” he said, his patience wearing thin. “Technology is stored on entry, and returned on exit….which would be in two rotations.”

“Two...days, no technology. I’m stuck here aren’t I? She said, the realistation finally washing over her. 

“Yes Doctor you are, and no, you can’t share my tent.”

Her jaw dropped and she stared at him as he stood, heaved his back pack on and strode off, whistling.

He grinned as he heard her hurried footsteps behind him and readied himself for her to block his path again, but this time, she fell into step beside him. He glanced at the small bag she carried on her back and he smirked.

“How long since you’ve camped Doctor?”

“Oh, a few hundred years - I’m sure it’ll all come back to me. Really no way off this planet for two days?”

“Nope. Two solid days of...peace and quiet,” he said, shaking his head as she shifted the bag, already looking uncomfortable with the lack of her usual expansive method of carrying possessions. 

“Makes sense to stay together - besides, if you do decide to plan something, I’ll be ready,” she said.

“You wouldn’t survive for two days without even a tent and I know you didn’t smuggle a trans dimensional bag in, so you don’t even have a tent,” he said in amusement. 

“I was going to stop your plan and call for assistance - they’d let me out again once they realised I'd saved the planet,” she said.

“Doctor,” he said, laughing. “There is no _they_ \- an automated process runs the gateway and a caretaker visits once a month - this is as isolated as it gets.”

“Ah. Bit of a flaw in my plan then,” she said sheepishly. 

“It would seem, wouldn’t it? I’m pitching on the other side of this quarry,” he said as he continued up a steep rocky slope, pulling out a paper map. “The terrain changes into a field, few trees, small brook not far to the east.”

“Uh huh...more hiking then we pitch on a nicer field. I like that plan.”

“Not all my plans are morally questionable... _Doctor_. ..what do you mean _we_ pitch on the field?”

“Well...I don’t have a tent, it gets cold here at night - you're not gonna leave me out in the cold are you?” she asked, casting him a look of utter innocence.

The Master sighed and shook his head, pulling out a hiking pole and digging it into the rocky slope as he pushed his way to the top. The Doctor scrambled up behind him, realising she was wholly unequipped for the hike. She huffed and attempted to reach the top, annoyed by the ease at which he stood there so effortlessly. 

With a gasp she suddenly slipped, grasping at a rock to prevent herself from sliding all the way back down. She growled in annoyance and scrambled to get back to her feet and then stalled as she realised he was holding his hand out to her. She pushed herself up a little higher, ignoring his hand with every fibre of her being, bracing her feet on the rock and pulling herself up to the top.

She stood beside him, brushing dust and dirt from her clothes while he watched her in amusement before reaching out, the backs of his fingers brushing against a patch of dust on her cheek. 

She stilled and looked up, her eyes moving first to his lips and then his gaze - amusment dancing in his eyes as expected, but for the briefest moment, a flash of something warmer, something that she suddenly wished she could take a hold of and pull out of him, wrapping it around her. 

She blinked and gave a little cough, chastising herself for the ease at which her need for him came to the surface and hoping it hadn't flooded from her mind straight into his. She glanced at him as they continued to walk but he gave no hint that he had felt it - she hated it when he kept her guessing.

She glanced at the map in his hand as they walked down the rocky slope and onto the grass plains ahead, a brook in the distance at the centre of a much more habitable area, just as he had expected. She hurried on, breaking into a run as she headed toward the brook, beginning to feel that it might not be the harsh, unforgiving landscape it had seemed at first glance. 

The Master watched her as she reached the brook and began skimming stones across the water quite happily, no sense of urgency about the lack of camping equipment. He shook his head at the thought and walked a short distance away, setting down his bag and meticulously laying out his equipment. 

The Doctor turned around after several happy carefree moments of skimming stones, her bag dangling from her hand as she watched the Master - five neat rows of tent accessories, cookware, rolled up bedding, what looked like an identical set of clothes and a book. She chewed her lip as she walked over, setting down her much smaller bag and eyeing the book.

“The Lost Travellers....” she said.

“I’ve read it before...a few times,” he said as he stepped back, shaking out his tent and releasing valves.

In moments he had inflated the air beams and the good sized tent was up. He began to move around the tent, hammering in pegs and passing a handful to the Doctor.

“You mean it's your favorite book?” she said with a smile as she pushed the pegs into the ground. “What do you like about it?”

“You're not in it?” he said, raising an eyebrow in amusement. 

The Doctor stood with a grin and folded her arms as she looked at him.

“It’s about two people, whose friendship spans centuries thanks to a scientific miracle that extends their lives repeatedly," She began. "They fight, they break each other's hearts, they make mistakes - one breaks the universe and the other fixes it, and then finally, they…”

“Do NOT tell me the ending,” he said, glaring at her as he unzipped the tent entrance and began moving the remainder of his things inside. 

She ducked under the open entranceway and sat down inside, her legs crossed as she began rolling out his sleeping mat and opening the valves to inflate it. 

“It's a book about us Master,” she said. 

“It is absolutely not about us,” he said, reaching out through the tent to open her backpack and pulling out bottles of water, a compass and a very crumpled map, along with some food supplies. “Really didn't plan to spend a night here, yet alone two?” 

“No...I'll manage, I can make a bed. I’ve survived worse,” she said. “And that book _is_ about us.”

“What are you going to make a bed out of? Leaves?” he said. “And it bears no resemblance to us whatsoever.”

“Well apparently you can make a gun out of leaves, so why not a bed? Also Master, it’s a story about you and me”

“For the record, that was true about the gun. _Just_ share my bed. But you're not reading over my shoulder.”

“Don’t need to,” the Doctor said, with a grin that infuriated the Master.

“And _why_ is that?” he said, spreading out his sleeping bag and feeling utterly thrilled by the concept that this wasn't exactly spacious. His _me time_ had taken quite the turn indeed. Still, he wasn't going to give her an easy time from here on out. _He’d_ show her for crashing his peaceful weekend break. 

“Because I wrote it,” she said, picking an apple from her bag and taking a bite.

She could almost taste his shock.

“Told you it was about us.”

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is so much fluff and banter, but it's getting late on that planet now and they will be having to sort their sleeping arrangements out! Started writing the next chapter, so stick with me and thanks tons for your comments!

The Master stared at her..and stared..and stared. She didn’t even attempt to fight the amusement that danced in her eyes. All those times he had thrown her - disguises, masks, plans on top of plans. _ Finally _ she had surprised him. 

He slipped off his coat, laying it in the small space between the camping mat and wall of the tent, spread out the sleeping bag and laid down comfortably, using his backpack behind him to prop himself up as he opened the book, casting her one last victorious glare before opening the book and pointedly ignoring her. 

She felt utterly smug about her revelation for a while until the thought occurred to her that that glare  _ had _ looked quite victorious. She glanced at the canvas flooring she was sitting on and back at his well padded, comfortable and likely well insulated sleeping area. 

“Don’t even think about it,” he said, turning a page and not even looking up. 

“You said we could share!” she said indignantly and not without a slight hint of disappointment. 

“To stop you freezing to death at night - it’s day time. I’m relaxing. Which was my entire plan - you know, the plan you decided to ruin.”

“So you’re just going to lay there and read my book?”

“Yes, I’m going to relax and read and please stop calling it  _ your _ book!”

“It  _ is _ my book Master,” she said, grinning. “ _ I _ wrote it, so that is very much my book and it looks to me like that copy has been read over and over.”

He cast her a look of utter annoyance over the top of the book and she felt a flash of warmth that she fought hard to not display. He really _ did _ love her book, and it clearly went a lot of places with him, she wondered why he could possibly be bothered about spoilers for a book that was so well read. Shaking her head, she crawled out of the tent and stood up.

“Doctor?” he called suspiciously from inside the tent. 

“Yep?”

“Where are you going?”

“To get some firewood, gather some supplies - get ready to cook dinner.”

The Master left the tent so fast that all the Doctor heard was a loud rustling sound as he scrambled out of the tent. 

“Just... _ gather  _ Doctor. I’ll cook.”

“Well it looks like there are several edible fungi and at least once variety of fruit growing near the brook and I had a meal once on Kralon - not much for spices and herbs on that planet, but I’m sure those were the main ingredients. I can try and knock that up.”

The Master stared in horror as she walked away, focused on her task of preparing for dinner. 

He reassured himself that she was only gathering supplies - he wasn’t going to let her attempt to replicate that meal  _ anywhere _ near the tent, or anything  _ else  _ flammable. All those human pets she collected, over so many lives, why were they always so polite? Why did none of them ever tell her how terrible she was when it came to cooking? 

He didn’t ask himself why he hadn’t either...or why he was fully intending to continue the same tactic her human pets always had - and simply avoid the subject. She looked so happy….positive...cheerful, sometimes he just missed her smile. 

Not that he would ever tell her that.

When she came back to the tent over half an hour later, a small campfire was well underway, two steaks cooking and potatoes boiling in a pot. She stared at the fire, unzipping her backpack and pulling out several different shaped mushrooms and a bundle of foliage.

“Not edible,” he said, dismissively, laying on his side on the grass with the book open in his hands. “Not without a solid hour of preparation.I was planning on eating two steaks, camping makes me hungry, but I’m feeling generous and won’t let you starve, you can have one.”

She didn’t have to know he had lovingly prepared dinner for two, that was a fact he was keeping fiercely to himself. She also didn’t have to know that he wasn’t going anywhere near her cooking - especially when she had that adorable accomplished smile. _Annoying smile._ Annoying was the word that was the word he was looking for. He wasn’t sure why adorable kept on slipping out. 

He made a point of fortifying his mental barriers. 

“Well, that does look good - I can always make breakfast for us!. Did you...just carry two steaks around in your bag?”

“No,” he said, turning the page. “Darkly penetrating gaze….the physician really enjoys seeing his friend’s  _ darkly penetrating _ gaze. If I recall, I think the Physician dreams about him. Often.”

“Yes, but the dreams are put there by him.”

“Still her dreams though.”

“His….until chapter 13,” the Doctor said.

“Chapter...13. You really did that?”

“Yep, I did,” she said with a grin as she grabbed a plate and settled down in front of the fire. “You got all this underway fast.”

“I’m good at starting fires,” he said, chuckling to himself. 

“I noticed. I’ve put out plenty of planets on fire Master,” she said, shaking her head. “Do I want to know where the steaks came from?”

“Vegetarian this time round?” he asked. “I have potatoes too, and those  _ were _ in my bag.”

“Just don’t want it’s relatives wandering past the camp fire,” she said.

The Master chuckled and started to put the food out on their plates, shaking seasoning on to the potatoes and to her surprise, a green vegetable which appeared be a local variety. 

“How did you make a meal like this in that space of time?”

“Just something I whipped up, enjoy your dinner,” he said, passing her a filled wine glass. 

She paused, amazed at just how prepared he was for a more than comfortable weekend of camping out on such a desolate planet, and took the glass, hesitating.

“It’s the done thing to make a toast,” she said.

“Go right ahead Doctor,” he said, intrigued. 

“Well, in chapter 13, the characters….”

“Don’t spoil it,” he said, cutting her off.

“ _Master_. I can’t possibly spoil a book you’ve read over and over.”

“Well you can..because I’ve never read past page 245.”

“What?” the Doctor said, staring at him in amazement. “Why read a book over and over and never read the ending?”

“Didn't know if I could trust the author with these characters if you must know.”

“You can,” the Doctor said with a smile. “Trust me, their future is safe.”

“Well, maybe I’ll finish it one day. See where chapter 13 takes...them. To the unknown?”

“I’m not toasting the unknown - to time off from chaos and saving the universe,” she said.

“I don’t save the universe, that’s your kink,”

“It’s not a kink, it’s necessary, and half the time because of you.”

“Half the time?" he said, offended. "You  _ never _ see my through my disguises - how do you know I’m not the cause 100% of the time?”

“Because you always reveal yourself, you just can’t help yourself,” she said with a laugh. 

She took a bite and closed her eyes, a moan of utter satisfaction filling the tent. 

“Didn’t think you’d be making that sound until you’re squeezed into my sleeping bag with me.”

The Doctor’s eyes opened wide and she coughed.

“Don't choke Doctor,” he said, laughing as he ate his dinner. “It’s not fun if I’m not the one doing it.”

She stared at him incredulously as he ate the rest of his meal, his book in his hand, pretending he couldn’t see her.   
  



	3. Chapter 3

It was an amazing dinner, but she wasn’t going to tell _him_ that, he was already looking far too pleased with himself as he cleaned the plates and cutlery with water he had boiled from the brook - he really was the most self sufficient person she had ever known. He never rested until everything necessary was done, and done with perfection.  
  
When finally everything was carefully cleaned and put away and he settled on top of his unzipped sleeping bag relaxing, she laid beside him on the mat on her stomach, her elbows propping her up and her chin in her hands, watching the shadows dancing across the outside of the tent as bugs flew past, attracted to the light from the tent’s lantern.

The Doctor shifted, kicking her legs back and forth as she wriggled subsequently closer to the Master until she was pushing against him. She was greeted with a deep sigh as he placed his open book down on his stomach and looked at her. 

“Doctor,” he said, tiredly. “This is a large camping mat, you have more than enough space and why can’t you keep _still_?”

“I didn’t bring a book, and there’s nothing to do,” she said, tilting her head as she looked at him.

“That's a shame,” he said, picking up his book and continuing to read.

The Doctor stared at him in disbelief until finally she accepted that he had every intention of focusing on the book. She remained quiet for several minutes as she resumed her focus on the shadows outside, mentally categorising the bugs and contemplating going outside to see if her guesses were right. 

“You know, this planet has three varieties of..”

“Doctor!” he said, exasperated. “Why must you ruin all my plans! Even this one!”

“Now who’s giving all the credit?” she said, sitting up and watching him in amusement. “Were you just going to read all night, for two nights? The same book? Never going past page 245?”

“Yes!” he said, snapping the book closed and placing it down beside him on his coat. “If you must know, I was. I have paper, pens and pencils too - and the terrain is good for walks. _That,_ Doctor was the entirety of the plan you ruined.”

“I didn’t ruin it...my presence doesn’t ruin your entire holiday Master,” she said with a forced sense of humour and sudden flash of underlying hurt.

“Usually Doctor, you don’t turn up and surprise me, that’s more my thing. I don't like surprises.”

“Wouldn’t call your visits _nice_ surprises though,” she said, as he maintained his composure with expert ease.

“At least I make an effort. One of us has to,” he said.

“ _Effort_? You turn up and kidnap my friends, vaporise them, shrink innocent people, raise Cyber armies...that’s not making an effort, that’s making me..and the universe suffer!”

“Yes!” he said, chuckling. “Universal suffering takes a lot of effort. You never appreciate my work.”

“Appreciate? How could I ever appreciate you leaving me and my friends to die on a plane with a bomb?”

“Because it was amusing and that plan had intricacies and effort that took a lot of work - you never appreciate anything I do.”

“You tried to kill me!”

“Yes?!”

“Why do you not see the problem with that?”

The Master simply smiled at her. 

She glared at him, utterly infuriated.

He wasn’t affected by that adorable chastising glare she cast at him. Not at all. Not in the slightest.

He returned his attention to his book and read approximately three lines before he growled in frustration as she began talking again.

“Doctor!” he said in frustration. “I want to finish my book in peace. Maybe you could take a nice walk, get some air.”

She felt a flash of hurt, and abruptly stood, climbing out of the tent and zipping it closed as loudly as she could in her best approximation of the tent equivalent of slamming a door. She was offended and annoyed and wanted him to know it. It was ridiculous, and she knew it on some level- he was focused on _her_ book, a book she was proud of truth to be told. She wasn't distracting him from ever reaching the ending. She wasn't remotely anxious about his reaction to _that_. 

She thrust her hands into her pockets and ignored the chill in the night air as she tried very hard to lie to herself. 

He read the next chapter to the end, the two main characters having travelled far from each other, their minds lonely for the other's connection, their hearts craving closeness and security in each other's presence. He smiled and thumbed the pages, wondering where she had taken the story, what kind of end had she given them. Now he knew the book was about them, he felt even more apprehensive to read the ending - a risk that she might have torn them apart forever. Would she do that? Would she discard everything they were, consign them to the past. Could he trust her to have hope in them? 

He put the book down beside him with a sigh as he climbed into his sleeping bag, zipping it half way up as he laid back and watched the Doctor’s shadow passing back and forth outside the tent. He felt mildly amused that she had been that annoyed with him that she had kept up her pacing for that long. Still, he had finally had some uninterrupted reading time. 

Suddenly she stopped pacing and he quickly laid back, his hands casually behind his head as he focused his eyes on the roof of the tent, pretending very much to have been utterly disinterested in what she was doing and definitely not feeling reassured by her proximity to the tent. 

She glanced at him as she climbed back inside, zipping the tent closed and sitting down in the opposite corner, spreading her coat on the ground. He watched in amusement as she laid down on it, grabbing it as she turned away from him, attempting to both lay on it and use it as a blanket at the same time.

“Cold? It’s minus ten degrees out here at night Doctor.”

“I’m fine,” she said, sounding thoroughly annoyed and very much _not_ fine. 

“OK then, goodnight,” he said, turning out the light with no warning.

The Doctor laid in the dark annoyed, simmering in disbelief at his abruptness and thoroughly determined not to seek the comfort of his mat, or the warmth of his sleeping bag, and definitely not the warmth of his body. That was not on her mind at all. She was sure of this, as the thought of how warm she would feel, her body wrapped in his, went right ahead and filled her thoughts.

 _Silence._ He fell quickly asleep in the darkness of the tent. If she wanted to be stubborn, that was her choice. Wasn't his fault if she hadn't prepared for every eventuality and brought basic things to survive the freezing temperature. Another thing she never appreciated about him. 

He roused sometime later to the sound of the Doctor shifting on her coat, the cold canvas rustling beneath her. He frowned and eased himself up on his elbows, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the darkened space. She whimpered and in seconds he unzipped his sleeping bag, moving to her immediately as he made out her shaking form in the dull light. 

“Doctor?” he whispered. “Come on you idiot, you’re going to freeze, you’re far too cold. We have to warm you up.”  
  
She moaned, her joints aching and the cold cutting right through her as she eased herself up with considerable effort and pain and crawled over to the mat, his arm around her shoulders, helping her move along until she collapsed down onto it with a relieved groan. 

He slipped an arm around her without a second thought, pulling her trembling body close as he rolled with her in his arms, zipping the sleeping bag up in one quick motion.

She didn’t utter a single word of objection as she felt the incredible warmth of his body, unable to stop herself from instinctively curling into his hold. She sighed against his chest, his chin resting on her head. She hoped he thought the sigh was simply relief at getting out of the cold...that's all it was. No other reason she would sigh, wrapped in his arms in a sleeping bag that suddenly seemed _much_ snugger than it looked. 

He couldn't fight the smile that formed as her leg slipped between his as she relaxed, cold and tired and barely aware of just how _audibly_ she had sighed, snuggling in his arms. 

“We slept outside once….do you remember?” he said suddenly, with a slight undercurrent of concern that perhaps she had forgotten.

The Doctor inched up from his chest quite abruptly at his words - intending to respond that yes, she did remember, she _always_ remembered them, but instead she froze as she could almost make out his features, his dark hair falling down to brush against her forehead. Oh she had misjudged his proximity in the darkness - her face was very close to his, her lips almost brushing against his own, and his body, so very warm and inviting wrapped around her. 

“Gallifrey, much warmer, and we were much younger. Whole lot of trouble the next day," she said quietly.

“Well, we couldn't be alone anywhere and I had no regrets, would have run away with you every night if they'd let us.”

“Me too,” she whispered against his lips. “Me too.”

He closed his eyes, his hearts flooded with emotion, far too much too fast. He tensed as he fought the barrage of feeling that overcame him. He never had got a handle on all these feelings he had battled with before he regenerated. He was sure at times that they were a curse - the very act of feeling seemed an affliction at times. Sometimes he wanted it to stop, but then he would be nothing more than a Cyberman - and he would never crave to become something he only viewed as a toy for his amusement. A lethal toy, but a toy for his games nonetheless.

“Master?” she whispered. “Are you ok?”

He wanted to tell her how overwhelming his feelings were at times, how he didn't want them, they hurt him and he hated it. A moment of deep regret and sadness flashed through him as he remembered sitting in the quiet, stale world of the vault, his tears falling as the Doctor sat and watched, suspicion and disbelief an impossible barrier to any chance at comfort or help. All he had ever wanted was to be held when that pain became unbearable, but here now, finally in each others arms, he stayed silent, steadying his breath and pretending to be falling asleep. 

Despite his conflict, and the words that would not fall from his lips, he did quickly drift asleep, the feel of her in his arms so comforting that he felr for a moment, utterly safe and whole again. 

He slept more peacefully than he had for a very long time. 

He roused to the sounds of the world waking - birds singing, a gentle breeze blowing against the tent, and the Doctor asleep in his arms, her body wrapped up in his. She no longer trembled, and her breathing was even and steady - she was sleeping quite happily all wrapped up in him. He didn't know what possessed him and he didn't stop to think about it - when he abruptly placed a kiss on her head, smiling against her hair.

He froze as he felt a small movement as she shifted, her leg slipping higher between his own as she snuggled against him, beginning to rouse. He reacted in a flash of insecurity as he focused on his breathing, his eyes closed as he laid very still, pretending to be fast asleep. 

She yawned, a little smile escaping her as she opened her eyes and watched him, his eyes closed, so relaxed and at peace. Her eyes fell to his lips, and for a flicker of a moment she felt a compulsion to kiss him. She inched closer, tempted, so tempted to press her lips against his, so very close that if he opened his eyes, she would have no excuse, no way to explain this. 

He shifted suddenly, his arm tightening around her waist - she froze. Her mind raced with a sudden panic - if he woke now and found her this close to him, snuggling even closer and wide awake without the luxury of sleep as an excuse - she would never hear the end of it. He would be _intolerable_. 

She closed her eyes, quickly snuggling back against his chest and realising immediately that snuggling was not really a very good cover for almost kissing him. 

“You seem….comfy Doctor,” he said in amusement, and not without affection.

Her hearts raced at his words as her mind battled to figure out just how long he had been awake.

“It's smaller inside,” she said. “Looked much bigger before we zipped it up.”

“You warm enough now? Not complaining, sharing body heat with you is always a good idea,” he said, not moving a muscle as he stayed wrapped right around her. 

“I’m….um...warm, yes,” she said, her voice hoarse very suddenly. “You're very...warm..I’m warm,...we both...the temperature went up, that’s good for us...very good….won"t be needing all this body heat...?”

“Doctor?”

“Yes,” she whispered, her head resting comfortably on his chest as she failed to move an inch. 

“I read to page 250.”

“You continued?”

“They were lonely, and stubborn, and she wants to leave a light on in the window to show him he can always come home, but never lights it. Night after night. He never sees that flame, and he watches closely. It’s sad Doctor - _should_ I read on?”

“If you don't, and you close the book, you’ll never know, and that is definitely an unhappy ending,” she whispered. “Maybe it’s time you let yourself find out."

“Yeah, well, I have another night and a full day - so maybe,” he said, fighting the urge to pick up the book and open at the last page, discovering what she had decided for their fate.

The Doctor felt the wave of conflict in his mind and looked up at him, their eyes locking instantly,

“Breakfast,” she whispered, suddenly feeling a need to distract. “I love a good breakfast.”

She frowned as he moaned, a mixture of relief and regret flooding through his mental barriers before he slammed them closed, afraid that his feelings would rush to her, seeking solace in her much more ordered mind. 

“What's' wrong?” she asked. 

“I’m cooking,” he said quickly, disappointed and relieved that the closeness between them would pass soon. 

“I have the vegetation I gathered yesterday and think I can work out how to make a soup,” she said brightly, smiling as she shifted back a little, regretfully so. 

He closed the distance immediately placing a single, surprisingly soft kiss against her lips before unzipping the sleeping bag and untangling himself from her, jumping up and unzipping the tent.

“ _I’m_ cooking,” he called out, as he quickly left the tent.

The Doctor raised her fingers to her lips, pressing gently, stunned as she focused hard, imprinting the memory vividly in her mind. 

“Koschei,” she whispered to the empty tent, her hearts wanting to say so much more.


	4. Chapter 4

He was focused entirely on preparing breakfast when she finally emerged from the tent and pretended not to have noticed the flash of purple in his peripheral vision while he watched the eggs cooking in the pan. He felt a burst of happiness that he was never going to admit to her, knowing his coat was the first thing she had reached for when she climbed out of the warmth of the sleeping bag. 

“You crashed my holiday and now you’ve taken my coat Doctor, you are starting to push your luck now,” he said, looking up, aiming his spatula like a weapon. “I’ve burned entire planets for less.”

She yawned, the backs of her hands covering her mouth before she slowly stretched her arms out to her sides, a slight smile as she met his eyes, her hair messy one of her yellow braces hanging down at her side. He always looked immaculate, there was simply no excuse for looking that dishevelled. 

It took him a full fifteen seconds to drag his eyes from her dishevelled self. He was acutely aware of just how hard it was to drag his eyes away from her, when in his total distraction, he touched the hot pan. The thought ran through his mind as the pain from the pan stung his hand, that she must have noticed just how long his gaze had lingered. His only hope was that she were still half asleep. 

“Ow!” he said, taking the pan off of the flame and placing it on the ground before shaking his hand rapidly to relieve the pain.

“Thought you could cook with your eyes closed Master,” she said, half smiling as she came over and crouched down, taking his hand and inspecting it with a quickly forming frown.

“It’s fine, nothing to make a fuss over,” he said, not making any effort to remove his hand from his.

“There’s an Atlas plant growing by the brook, I’ll get some, make a balm for that,” the Doctor said as she let go of his hand and stood.

The Master paused, about to protest but found his words of complaint simply did not come. He instead shrugged and prodded at the eggs with his spatula, satisfied that they were well cooked despite his mishap and trying not to think about the warmth that rushed through him at her concern. 

How he had _missed_ that look of care and warmth directed at him.    
  
She returned quickly with thick rubbery leaves and a stalk, squatting down on a tree stump beside him as she snapped open the stalk and carefully squeezed out a green pasty substance onto the piles of leaves in her hands. She smiled a little as she pressed her hands together, crushing and blending the leaves until it reached a lumpy, but pasty consistency. 

“That’s not a good look for me Doctor - clashes with my coat...that you seem to have stolen.”

“ _ Hand _ , and stop stalling,” she said, an amused smile playing on her lips as he begrudgingly raised his hand, allowing her to take it in her own and apply the balm. Her hand pressed over his, warmth and familiarity of her touch suddenly making him feel far less begrudging toward her. Not that he would admit that to her. 

He simply watched her as she focused entirely on his hand despite there being nothing to see except her own hand covering his. He longed to reach out, carefully inch toward her mental barriers, be a wave of warmth humming at the edge of her mind, but he held back, not willing to lay himself wide open. She was after all, just applying medicine - medicine that he knew took 30 seconds to reach full effect, yet here she was, a full minute later, still holding his hand. She might be a bad cook - and bad was a polite description, but she was exceptionally capable at most other things.

She looked up, a fleeting glance that became locked in his instantly as their eyes met.

“How’s that?” she whispered, her voice not quite as steady as she intended.

“Better Doctor,” he said quietly. “Looks like a Doctor is exactly what I needed.”

She swallowed and suddenly the air felt thick around her as she let herself soak in the feel of him, so close in proximity to her. His mind simply a moment away from connecting if they chose to open their barriers. All it would take would be a nudge, to seek his consent - and the compulsion to do so was simply overwhelming. She hadn’t responded to his words, she was just sitting, looking at him, he would make a joke soon, call her out, but he wasn’t. She had to do...something. 

“Good job I crashed your holiday then,” she said, an obvious nervous edge to her voice which did not go unnoticed by either of them.   
  
He felt a wave of disappointment that she had drawn a line under the moment so abruptly, but expertly hid his feelings.

They ate, the Master giving her a rather smug smile as he enjoyed his food, her obvious satisfaction at a very nice breakfast quite clear. He had impressed her and he really did take a lot of satisfaction from that. 

“What’s next in your plan?” the Doctor asked, taking a final bite of her food.

“Hiking - the hills up ahead have a mostly unbeaten path, enough of a challenge but still fun. There’s a lake at the very top. I have supplies, we can keep the base down here so it's less to carry...well for me, you didn’t exactly prepare.”

“Really?” she said, rolling her eyes with a slight laugh. “You should have mentioned it! Right, let’s hike!”

He watched the Doctor as she walked energetically along the path a few yards ahead of him, a bounce in her step as she stopped frequently to examine the local fauna, genuine enthusiasm and excitement as she chatted non stop with a flurry of facts about flowers and plants. He was well versed in everything she said, having studied the environment and makeup of the planet before heading out for his peaceful, _solo_ vacation, but he couldn’t help smiling at her. 

“That why you like having pets around? They hang onto your every word - they all adore you, some of them are in love with you Doctor, well in their own human ways.”

She turned to him, a large, star shaped leaf in her hand and frowned. 

“I talk to myself even when I'm alone,” she said, with a shrug - her still dishevelled hair that she hadn’t even thought about, making her look quite adorable once again. “I have a lot in my head, and I don’t like silence.”

“Yeah, silence gets unbearable,” he said, feeling a slight tug at his hearts that he mentally chastised himself for allowing to rise up so easily.

“You shouldn’t be on your own so much if you don’t like silence,” she said, her own words making her hearts tense as she spoke them.

“No point surrounding myself with people if they have no importance to me.”

“You have to give people a chance, people can be wonderful!” she said, as she turned and dashed off, quickly scrambling up a slope, standing at the top with her hands on her hips. 

“I don't care about  _ people _ Doctor!” he called out from the bottom of the slope and realising she couldn’t hear him, he lowered his voice to whisper. “I only care about _you_.”

“Did you say something?” she said, glancing down over her shoulder.

“Probably not,” he said under his breath as he quickly headed up the slope with ease, finally standing beside her as he looked out across the landscape with a smile. 

“Crystal bed - makes the water sparkle - you picked a great lake. It’s big too - it would be flocked with tourists if it was easier to get in and out of here.”

“Yeah, that’s been this planet’s eternal problem - they never could work out why that closes every 48 hours,” he said with a smirk.

The Doctor glanced at him and raised an eyebrow, pondering whether he had anything to do with that. Preserving natural beauty wasn’t high on the Masters list of priorities, but potential vacation spots free of people, now that wasn’t impossible. 

She was lost in thought when she suddenly blinked and turned to look at him, a growing pile of clothes on the ground beside him, neatly folded. He slipped off his shirt, leaving him in only his underwear and she suddenly found that she couldn’t quite avert her eyes as he grinned at her, pushing them down to the ground and kicking them with expert ease onto his pile of clothes. He walked up to the waters edge, stepping up onto the rocks until he was elevated. 

“You can’t visit a natural crystal lake without swimming Doctor!” he said with a laugh as he dived in. 

She chewed her lip, and hesitated for only a second before slipping off his coat, the rest of her clothes followed, forming a pile on top of it. She watched him swimming with a smile, as a flood of memories of more carefree times when they were much, much younger, so many centuries ago, flooded her mind. 

She walked up to the same rock, saving the time of selecting her own spot and need to test the water depth. She dived in right after him, entering the water with minimal splash, the warm, thick waters almost welcoming her as she swum immediately toward him. 

“Admit it Doctor!” he said, splashing water at her playfully. “I’m good at plans, you like this one.”

“Yeah but easy not to murder passersby when there _are_ no people around,” the Doctor said, her arms outstretched as the thick water supported her weight perfectly. 

“There’s you though, so do I get bonus points for not murdering you yet?” he asked with a laugh as he began to swim around her slowly, circling her.

“You have no intention of ever killing me Master. All these lives and you would have done it if you wanted to, so stop pretending,” she said as she floated onto her back, her hands swishing gently through the water, her eyes closed as she sighed in deep relaxation.

“What can I say Doctor, I like foreplay,” he said, splashing water at her and laughing as her eyes flew open with a glare directed straight at him.

“Foreplay is called that because it usually leads to…” she began, but was cut off as he dived under the water beside her.

“Master?” she said, turning her head to glance around the quickly calming waters as she floated into a more vertical position. “What are you..”

He laughed as he burst up through the surface behind her, a large red crystal clutched to his chest.

“What is that? If that’s the real reason for your visit here - some kind of power or crystal that can be weaponized, or cause mass hypnosis...I am going to tell you exactly how much I did NOT believe this was an innocent holiday Master!”

“You got me Doctor. It’s a lava hypnosis crystal - melts them when I get bored with their hypnotised obedience.”

The Doctor stared at him, realising how ridiculous that sounded, but also aware of just how ridiculous some of his previous plans had actually been. It took her approximately 30 seconds of staring in disbelief to decide that it was better to be safe than sorry, and grab it from him. 

Not expecting her sudden move, his eyes widened in surprise as she turned and swum away with it. 

“Doctor!” he called, laughing with incredulity. “I need that!”

“Well I’m not letting you melt the human race!” she yelled back as she swum toward the bank. 

He shook his head and dived forwards, swimming as fast as he could and quickly gaining on her given the thicker density of the water closer to the rivers edge. He reached her just as she paused to see how far away he was and stood, the water now just reaching below her shoulders, her breasts only just covered, her eyes flashing with determination.

“You are not getting hold of this!” she said. “I cant believe you! You can’t have a simple quiet holiday - everything is about world domination for you! Can’t you just enjoy the world around you for once?”

“Doctor,” he said calmly. His arm encircling her waist under the water yet making no move to take back the crystal. 

“I am not handing this to you,” she said, her gaze hardening as she stared at him in anger.

“Doctor,” he simply repeated.

“Which planet were you planning on melting? What universe ending plan were you going to hypnotise them for? Honestly Master, you just never learn! Why can’t you just be in a place like this and appreciate it? Why is it always like this with you?”

“Doctor!” he said, raising his voice.

“Always the same with you, you never…”

“DOCTOR!” he shouted.

“WHAT?” she shouted back, her eyes locked with his in fiery determination.

“It’s a natural power cell for the lantern. So unless you want the tent dark tonight, we need that crystal.”

“Oh,” she said, her mind racing to process his words. “You weren’t…”

“Something you want to say Doctor?” he said, smirking. “After all, you did crash my peaceful holiday where I simply wanted to appreciate the world around me. And you stole my coat. Well? Anything to say?”

She stared at him, his smug smirk unbearable….so damn attractive and far, far too smug. She felt a wave of guilt at her rash judgement of his motives but also, an overwhelming urge to kiss that smug grin right off his face.

His eyes widened in shock as she looped her arms around his neck, her mouth meeting his as she pressed her lips firmly against his, quickly deepening her kiss, her body seemingly held against his by the dense waters. He froze for a moment, taken back by her move until finally his senses restored and his arm tightened around her waist, his other hand sliding up her back, tangling in her wet hair as he kissed her hard, her body flush against his and a feeling of deep satisfaction at the sound that escaped her as she moaned into his mouth. 

They finally inched back at the same time, both breathless, their eyes searching each other as their bodies remained so comfortably and so familiarly pressed together. 

“There’s no swimming in the book,” she said, her voice soft and affectionate.

“We can write our own version, make it a better ending,” he said, the warmth in his eyes making a flood of hope rise in her hearts.

“What makes you think it’s not a happy ending? Don’t you trust the writer?” she said.

“Should I?” He whispered.

“Always, they're safe in her hands,” she said. “Did you bring it on the hike?”

“Always,” he said. 

“We could read it together,” she said, her hearts bursting with adrenaline as she smiled.

“We  _ could _ ,” he said. 

She grabbed his hand with a determined smile and led the way as they walked out of the water towards a large flat rock, quickly sitting down, the warm sun promising to dry their wet skin.

He grabbed his bag before pulling out the book, placing it behind him and settling comfortably, half propped back on it. He opened the well worn book, casting a glance at the two piles of clothes safely dry in neat piles.    
  
“You’ve taken a liking to my coat Doctor, I’ll be expecting that back,” he said, casting her a look of amusement. “I always knew you admired my fashion sense, should have asked me for tips lives ago.”

“Tips? I don’t need style advice!”

“Doctor, some of your clothes choices have been…..shocking. Good job I favour black or purple, it goes with everything, and sometimes...you wore everything at once.”

“Nothing wrong with a splash of colour!” she said, shaking her head. 

He responded with a look of utter disbelief before grinning as he turned his attention back to the book. After only one paragraph, he glanced up questioningly.

“You’re going to say you're bored and start categorising leaves in exactly one minute, aren’t you?”

“I’m not bored, I just….don’t have a pillow.”

He rolled his eyes and merely glanced at his lap.

She hesitated for the briefest of moments, before laying down, her head on his thighs, curling up beside him as she looked out across the water. 

The water lapped gently against the river bank as the gentle breeze countered the warmth of the sun perfectly, and the Doctor quickly drifted off to sleep on the comfort of the Master’s lap. She roused sometime later to the sound of his voice and the familiar words of her book as he read them aloud. 

She remained still as she opened her eyes, watching the expanse of water before them, still and calm as she listened to his voice.

_ "The physician watched as his friend’s eyes filled with such hope and need, tears forming fast. He wanted so much to reach out with his mental barriers, in a mere moment he would have seen if her tears had been real, but his hearts were filled with fear. Fear of lifetimes of disguises and tricks and traps. His hearts would shatter if she simply toyed with him now. How could he dare to open his hearts and trust her again? Could he?” _

She turned on his lap, shifting onto her back as she looked up at him through the space between the book and the bare flesh of his chest. He placed the book down at his side and looked at her, hope rising in his hearts that he dared not admit to. 

“ _Could he risk the pain of her rejection_?” she said, completing the paragraph. 

“I wasn't toying with you Doctor,” he whispered. 

“I know that now,” she said quietly. 

“Twenty pages left, either you rushed the ending or this story is left wide open,” he said. 

“Well Master,” she said, her eyes full of love and fear and hope all at once. “Maybe we can find that out together.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little update because I had left them on the rocks for too long.

He had closed the book, and she had watched as he placed it carefully on the ground, his hand lingering on the cover before he looked out across the lake, not meeting her eyes as she looked up at him. 

“You’ve never liked the unexpected - all about plans and knowing things inside out. I’m amazed you haven’t cracked and finished it this time,” she said as she stretched, her head still on his lap and her arms above her head.

“Not true,” he scoffed, shaking his head. “I can be spontaneous. Watch me abandon my plan to steal your clothes and watch you walk back naked.”

The Doctor stared at him, incredulous, before bursting into laughter. 

“I spent six months on Manzanilla once - they are all about nudity - visitors wearing clothes are treated with the greatest suspicion. Lovely climate too.”

“Well, it would have to be. Gets cold at night here though, if a bear wanders out of the woods and steals your clothes you’ll need me to save the day for once - that would be an amusing change.”

“Well...we’re dry now...maybe it’s time to get dressed…” she said.

“Doctor...do you think I invented some kind of bear controlling device to command animals to steal your clothes?”

“No, not at all, that would be ridiculous,” she said, laughing dismissively, and hoping he didn’t notice the briefest flash of concern that he may have in fact built some form of technology to do just that from nothing but leaves and branches. 

“Well you have my word that would be the last thing I would plan,” he said. 

“Really? Why?” she said, silently admonishing herself for the undercurrent of offence that she hoped he didn’t hear, as she glanced at her still naked body. 

“Much more fun to steal them myself,” he said, laughing. 

The Doctor sat up, grabbing the book and shaking her head as she tapped her fingers against the cover and held it casually in front of her, giving him an unobstructed view of her ass as she turned, glancing over her shoulder. 

“You and me, tonight. We are reading this together. We have 24 hours left on this planet and you are not leaving without finding out the ending.”

“If you insist,” he said, standing and following her back towards their clothes. “Just hate to be disappointed by grand finales.”

“Master,” she said as she began to dress. “If you repeat the same chapters over and over and never let yourself move on - doesn’t it get….”

“Disheartening?” He said, raising an eyebrow as he pulled on his trousers. "Nope."

“I was going to say frustrating..tiring...but yeah, that too - after a while, you must want to stop that cycle…”

“I read past chapter 12 - past the robotic army of androids. That’s progress,” he said. “Got right into the next chapter.”

“The robotic army of androids was not progress Master!” She said, shaking her head as he slipped her braces back over her shoulders, looking at him, astonished. “The robotic army of androids is just another example of repeating the same cycles over and over - and never learning that it won’t work. It will go wrong and will need someone else, usually the SAME person to fix all the mess. How can a person go back to the same idea that doesn’t work? And do it again one chapter later!”

“You seem awfully agitated about your own story Doctor,” he said with a smirk as he slipped his fingers under her braces, snapping them lightly against her shoulder. “And why not? I like shiny things - always have. Nothing shinier than...a robotic android army.”

She shook her head and slipped the book into the back of her trousers, snugly secured in her waistband. “Gifting the shiny army to the physician….she knew he wouldn’t want that. All he wanted was…” 

“What Doctor?” the Master said, reaching for her arm as she turned to move, his hand sliding down her arm immediately to grasp her wrist. “What did he want?”

“Riveting story, isn't it?" she breathed. "I don’t think he knew - or was ready to have it. Maybe,” she said, her eyes flitting away before looking at him again with focus and determination. “Maybe he just wanted...her. Maybe the physician only ever wanted her...it’s just hard to embrace someone who plays games, and appears in a blaze of chaos and destruction constantly.”

“That was not a blaze of chaos and destruction,” he said, offended. “Ok I’ll let you have the destruction, but any chaos he made was carefully constructed and had gone through rigorous test runs and simulations first and it’s not like the physician ever made it EASY….or so it’s implied...in the book.”

“Is that what I wrote?” she said, her voice softer suddenly. “Why do you think...someone would play those kinds of games Master? For so long...when clearly they….”

“Clearly they what?” he said, hoping she wouldn’t realise how fast his hearts were racing and both screaming at him to grab her and kiss her and simultaneously set fire to the planet and watch her extinguish it. 

“Clearly you need... to not have me spoil the ending,” she said, wriggling her wrist free from his grasp.

“The Physician never trusted his friend Doctor - never just...opened his arms and said welcome home. Maybe.. _.that’s _ why he made a pretend healing planet, kidnapped his friends, set worlds on fire. Maybe  _ that’s _ why she made a shiny army and stepped up in  _ carefully constructed  _ chaos - because maybe she was….” he paused and took a breath. “Even when she  _ did try, _ for him, he didn’t embrace her - can you blame her for burning everything?”

“Most people don’t burn worlds and raise armies of the dead to say; ‘give me a hug!’" she said.

“THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT THAT MEANT!” he exclaimed, his voice raised, stunned that she knew that and  _ still  _ hadn’t just simply….grabbed Missy and hugged her back then.

“The right course of action when faced with a planet wide disaster is to stop it first, save the world - it’s hardly a prime hugging scenario for the person who caused the disaster.”

“Never is with some people - most frustrating book I’ve ever read!” he said, shaking his head.

“Never stopped reading it though did you?” she said, over her shoulder.

"FYI Doctor - if it’s not a happy ending I’m going to melt your favourite planet!” he called out after her. 

“Endings are opening to interpretation Master - already have an anti melting device primed and ready, just in case you decide to go back to your favourite chapters on shiny armies instead of just letting yourself step forwards.”

He watched her, not moving as his eyes stayed glued on her, annoyance and a slight flash of fear at the realism of the conversation filling him until he took a deep breath and strolled after her, breaking into a run as he noticed her breaking off large waxy clumps of foliage from a bush. 

“Doctor...what are you…”

“The sap from these leaves can be brewed with the local ferns to make a nutrient rich drink - the ferns just need to be sauteed and then the whole thing is boiled to make a dense consistency that turns out sort of….” she paused, frowning. “Stretchy.”

“It should not be stretchy….Doctor, “ he said, plucking the foliage from her hands. “Have you actually eaten that? What did it taste like?”

“It tasted...stretchy..” she said, her frown deepening. 

“Food shouldn't taste stretchy...it’s a culinary crime - don’t even attempt to make that - in the name of palatability, just _share my food_.”

“Oh...well if you insist,” she said, her frown turning into a smile as she shrugged and walked on. 

He breathed a sigh of relief that he wouldn't be taking care of her after she inadvertently poisoned herself with her own cooking, and walked on, his eyes falling to the book snugly secured in the back of her trousers. 

“I don’t repeat the same cycles. Ridiculous! I’ll prove it when I finish that damn book tonight,” he muttered as he hurried to catch up with the Doctor, pulling out the map from his pocket and feeling a flash of annoyance that she was already leading them away from his carefully mapped out favourite routes. 

The Doctor smiled as she heard his huff of annoyance catching her up as his footsteps got closer, and hoped he didn’t realise how her hearts felt a burst of joy at the thought of him so easily sharing his food with her. She pushed aside the slight flash of sadness she felt that they only had one more night - quickly dissipated by the memory of the warmth of his body against hers in the sleeping bag and the realisation that she would feel that warmth again. 

One final cold night - she couldn’t let him leave without reading the ending. 

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next night will involve bickering, honesty, reading the ending together and we gotta have some love for the sake of our hearts. <3 <3 There's also an amusing little twist. Thanks for reading, I hope to keep writing and keep the flow going!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the final chapter and I hope you find the ending as satisfying as it was to write. :) Thank you for coming along for the ride. :)

The Doctor felt slightly aggrieved as the Master set about dinner - every time she had reached for a utensil he had brushed her hand aside with an urgency and a slight huff of annoyance. Eventually she lay on her side on a blanket, her head propped up on her arm as she watched him work. He was impressive, not that she was telling _him_ that - the way he really did go for perfection in everything he did. She mused that his plans were always executed with that same preparedness and precision that he was now making dinner with - just with the predictable outcome that they would fail, or she would end them, it was all rather tied up with her. For once she could relax, watch him without the urgency that she would need to put out a planetary wide fire or that he might play with her friend's lives. 

That was always nice. Rare, but nice.

She tried not to inflate the Master’s ego when he placed her meal on the blanket in front of her. It was hard not to curb her enthusiasm when presented with multiple local delicacies, intricately prepared - but stroking his ego was not her plan. Not at all. 

He smiled, watching her, her eyes closing briefly as she savoured each bite, the eagerness at which she tried everything he had made and the obvious way she kept attempting to hide her pleasure. It amused him greatly as they ate in silence, only broken by a satisfied little noise that the Doctor let slip as she lay back, every morsel eaten. 

“Food okay?” he asked in amusement. 

“Mmm, pretty good.”

“You sounded like you were enjoying yourself,” he said, raising an eyebrow. 

“ _Fine_ , it was amazing, I might just miss your cooking,” she said, looking up at the sky as he laid down beside her. “A little bit.”

“Yeah, I know,” he smiled smugly. 

She rolled her eyes and slapped his leg playfully.

They stayed on the blanket watching the sky until the light grew dim and the moment could not be stretched any further, both acutely aware that the hours were slipping away until the portal would open again the next day.

Eventually they admitted defeat by the dying light and the Master gathered their things as the Doctor climbed back inside the tent. He followed her moments later, zipping the tent securely up behind him and then stopped, immediately seeing the Doctor in the centre of the camping mat, the sleeping bag spread out underneath her and barely a foot of space either side. He pretended not to notice as he placed the power source inside the lantern and secured the latch, while he plotted how to get HIS sleeping bag back.  
  
Turning back around he tensed, the sight of her in the same position but this time, the book in her hands as she studied the pages carefully. He couldn’t avoid this forever - there was simply nowhere to run now that night had fallen on what was a beautiful but quite empty planet. He could take his chances with his admittedly excellent survival skills out in the open, or join her and read the ending.

With a sigh he sat down beside her, deliberately as close as possible, his arm slipping around her shoulders as he shifted her over in one quick movement, placing him in the centre of the only comfortable spot in the planet and nudging her to the edge of the mat. His arm had lingered, the feel of her so close to him, the warmth of her body, slightly enticing if he allowed himself to admit it. 

Regretfully, he moved his arm and noticed a slight slump of her shoulders as soon as he shifted position. He toyed with the idea of just taking her in his arms, but couldn't bring himself to - not without finding out what she had done - if she would be needing that anti melting device for planet earth or not. 

She watched as he started to zip the sleeping bag up around him, shaking her head. 

“Really?” she said, amused. “You’re going to let me freeze tonight?”

“Depends,” he said, taking the book from her hands and opening it.

“Ah I see,” she said. “If you don’t like the ending I freeze to death, if you do you might let me live and share your warmth. Sounds about right.”

“Sounds perfectly reasonable to me,” he said. 

He gave her a warning glare before his eyes dropped to the page, as if his warning could somehow influence the way the story was going to go. She cuddled closer to him, feeling the chill in the night air and listened as he started to read.

“ _The helicopter._..really Doctor, did you really think that changing details like that was enough to throw me off the trail?”

“Well...it _was_. You read it over and over and didn’t realise it was about us,” she said with a small laugh, with the slightest hint of nervousness now that he was nearing the end of the story. “Just get on with it and read.”

The Master read on:

'She gasped, her hand moving to her mouth as she turned, stifling a laugh - he really had enjoyed that play on words. Announcing himself with a small pause and waiting for the hint of her reaction, which she so expertly concealed. Years and lives of his ridiculous disguises and reveals, and here was, once again, proudly telling her his name - she hadn’t realised, not until he spelled it out to her. Perhaps he truly was a Master of disguise.'

“Doctor, you flatter me,” he said, smirking.

“It’s not a compliment, I called you ridiculous.”

“Ridiculous..but then complimented me. I knew you enjoyed our games as much as me,” he smirked. 

“I did not enjoy you leaving me and my friends on a plane with a bomb!”

“NO sense of adventure Doctor,” he said, laughing.

“Just read or I'll read it,” she said, shaking her head.

“Fine…..” he said, reading further before stopping again. “Well, you seem to think I stayed on that tedious planet for seventy years and lived like a human the entire time. You underestimate me Doctor. My past selves were wonderful company and most accommodating, all of them.”

“How many of you did you meet?” he asked in astonishment.

“All of me, quite the trip down memory lane,” he said.

“You take risks with your timeline Master."

“That’s why I‘m the villain my dear Doctor and not the hero,” he said.

“I'm not a hero,” she said. “And if I’m not a hero then you don't have to be a villain.”

“Quite some logic there,” he said. “Three pages to the end - where are you going with this story?”

“I'm not spoiling the ending when you’re this close,” she said, reaching her hand over to pull the edge of the sleeping bag closer, and shivering slightly in the chill of the tent.

“Planning Doctor, that’s what you always lack,” he said, looking up from the book with a smug smile. “You didn't do your research and got stuck here, but maybe I knew you would do exactly this. How else do you think I ensure the peace and quiet of isolation once in a while. The planet’s leaders have little knowledge of temporal fields, it’s my personal vacation spot that I lured you into. Congratulations Doctor, you fell into my trap.”

The Doctor stared at him in utter amazement before shaking her head and laughing in disbelief.

“You are telling me you are the one who keeps the entry and exit window to this world running? That you trapped me here with you? I am shocked.”

“Thought you might be” he said, smirking.

“I am shocked, totally shocked, that you’d outright lie and act so smug about it too!”

“Lie?” he said, offended. “Come on Doctor, you know what I'm capable of. Why would I need to lie?”

He opened the book in annoyance and continued to read, his voice changing to an increasingly incredulous tone as he neared the final paragraph. 

"The Physician travelled back through the ages, building a doorway - a curiosity of a planet that can open for brief periods to allow visiors in and out."

He looked at her in amazement…”you knew I was bluffing...you knew because _you did it._ Why?” 

“I wanted to talk, without the chaos that usually came with it,” she said quietly. “Maybe I wanted my friend back too.”

“Plans like that are usually my forte - I suppose coming woefully unequipped for camping was to ensure we stayed together the whole time?”

“Oh..yeah, yeah that was all part of my plan. Whole lot of factors I considered when I set this up.”

“Or Doctor, you just weren’t remotely prepared for camping in the slightest. Admit it," he said, her words dancing in his mind.

She wanted her friend back too.

“Give me a break here - I prefer to jump straight in. Never been one to sit around and plan for days."

“Hundreds of years in the making my plans usually are. And they sometimes come with music and light shows, you just don’t jump in,” he said. 

“That always makes evil better - music and light effects,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“I always thought so. Glad you agree," he said, smirking as she glared at him. 

He read on before stopping abruptly as he stared at the final page and put the book down: 

‘They looked into each other's eyes, minds humming contentedly with the closeness of their proximity, he blinked and focused. He was not going to get lost in the moment, not when she had ended his favourite book so….unsatisfactorily.' 

“It ends... _like that_? Did I mention burning earth?”

“You were going to melt earth, not burn it - but why?" she asked.

“Because I don't like the ending."

“Why not?”

“It ends _here_ … right here?! In a _tent_ , the two characters reading a book. They close the book and it ends. You can't end a story like that! What happens next? You didn't explain anything!”

“What happens Master,” she said, turning to her side as she attempted to shuffle as close as possible to him, the cold becoming uncomfortable at that point, “...is anything we want to. One night and a few hours once the sun comes up...that's all the time we have left stuck here. It's up to us. What do you want to happen? We could always...have that hug…”

He looked at her, his eyes showing a flash of warmth before his gaze became penetrating. He moved in a second, one hand snaking up her back, his other gripping her hip as he kissed her deeply. Her body responded eagerly, the warmth of his body too enticing to even consider pushing away for a moment longer. 

They eventually broke away, the Doctor breathless and smiling, pressing her lips softly against his.

“You planned all this, then jumped in without your own food. Not bringing a tent I understand, but your plan lets you down when you don't even bring food. You’re lucky I was in a sharing mood,” he said.

“As if you’d let me starve,” she whispered, her hearts racing at their proximity as she battled to not allow her gaze to drop to his lips, when all she could think about was kissing him. 

“Quite the gamble,” he said, his own gaze doing exactly what she had battled not to, instantly sending a shiver of arousal through her.

“Cold?” he asked, knowing full well neither of them were cold anymore. 

The Doctor merely nodded, words becoming lost on her as he moved fast, pulling them both down, his arm around her waist, holding her against him as he zipped the sleeping bag up around them both.

“Much warmer now,” she said, her voice breaking as she fought to maintain composure with his body wrapped around hers. 

They held each other close, warmth enveloping them, mental barriers humming with expectation as she held him tightly, his hair tickling her neck as she kissed his head. 

"I've missed you Koschei," she whispered. 

“Haven't I always been here? I never leave you for long.”

“I've missed this. Us. Just us. No world ending schemes complicating anything. I missed us.”

“I missed us too,” he whispered.

She tightened her arms around him and he relaxed, centuries of games and fighting and frustration melting away so easily, that he started to wonder why they had never simply done this, when it really was this simple. He wanted to take her, right there, not hold back and penetrate her mind, her bodly, her hearts, all at the same time, but he felt suddenly overwhelmed with the greatest sense of peace he could ever remember feeling. He mumbled against her hair as she held him tightly, Gallifreyan words, barely audible as he began to fall asleep, such contentment a rare pleasure. 

The morning sun eventually woke them - the tent hot and their combined body heat making the humidity feel more intense. The Doctor looked up at him and smiled as his eyes opened, his gaze softening slightly as he processed where he was and just why he felt so hot. She shifted her leg from it’s resting space in between his, sliding against a sheen of perspiration but still quite unwilling to move from the incredible comfort of their physical proximity. 

“Mustn’t miss that window - we might get stuck here,” the Doctor mumbled, her head nestling comfortably on his chest.

“Oh the exit portal? I’ll just open it. They might not allow tech through there but it's easy enough.”

“You could have left any time?” she asked in amazement.

“Not really gonna go somewhere I have no possibility of leaving if I chose to Doctor. I have, maybe...a few issues with needing to be in control.”

“A few?” she said, looking up at him, her hair damp and clinging to her cheeks.

“One or two. Where you’re concerned maybe...a few,” he said, unzipping the sleeping bag in one swoop and rolling her over, flicking her hair back from her face as he pinned her wrists above her head and covered her body with his, pausing close to her lips, a smirk dancing across his face that sent a rush of heat coursing through her at the weight of his body pinning her in place. “This how you want it to end?”

“Might be…” she breathed, her chest heaving against his. “Exactly what I planned.”

“I make the plans,” he said, his lips crashing against hers in a deep, hard kiss, before inching back, his gaze intent and determined. “You refused to write that ending so I'm writing it Doctor.”

“Control freak,” she whispered, her eyes falling to his mouth and lingering deliberately as she darted her tongue out and licked her lips.

“Always,” he said, smirking as his hand slid down, making short work of her shirt, the cool air against her skin welcomed until the heat of his body replaced it and then nothing mattered anymore. 

The heat of the tent was lost instantly as his hand roamed her body while still keeping her pinned firmly down. She struggled only for the pleasure of seeing him cast her a warning look that sent savers throughout her body as he squeezed her wrists just a little tighter. Her mind opened at the same moment his did, both inching cautiously to a connection they had long missed. As soon as they intertwined they both let go, barriers dropping as they became lost in shared sensations and memories and feeling - love and anger and ridiculousness and everything else that encapsulated the two of them for so many lives. 

The Doctor wasn't even aware that he had released her wrists and remained in position, keeping them above her head obediently as he sent waves of pleasure through her, her back arching up for his every touch - rough, gentle, and everything in between, all at once.  
  
She moaned in protest when he rolled to the side, laying on his back beside her, his head turned to look at her as their mental barriers remained wide open - their minds humming contentedly as they lay peacefully in each other's presence. 

“How do you open the exit widow?" she asked curiously.

“Oh that?” he said, waxing his hand dismissively. “I can do it in a few minutes - there might be a no tech rule here, but it’s simply temporal mechanics, a child could do it. Well, _I_ was playing with temporal mechanics as a child, but as long as I'm the only one then no one can disturb my peace. Escape plans are kinda my thing love,” he said, grinning.

“I thought it was pretty robust - but you didn’t open it though,” she said, her hand reaching up to stroke his cheek. "Not this time.”

“Why would I," he whispered. "When everything I want is right here?”

They were grateful for the air when they finally left the tent - a basic canvas tent with no cooling system, being quite an experience in temperature control. The walk was short, and soon they were standing side by side, faced with the flickering purple and blue sparks of light of the exit portal as he turned and glanced at her.

“How’s this gonna work, once we’re through there?”

“However we want it to,” she said. “We write our own ending, remember?”

“As long as we're both in it - together. I’d hate to have to melt your favourite planet,” he said. 

“Me too, guess I’ll have to stay with you forever then Master,” she said softly, placing a kiss on his cheek, her hearts filling with love as she noticed the tension she didn't realise he was bearing, suddenly leaving him in an instant. 

She grasped his hand firmly and smiled, not caring if his ego inflated even further at the knowledge that she was bursting with happiness - and they stepped through the portal, the Master unable to hide his grin as they headed home, together.


End file.
